Reliant Funding Launches SBA Loan Service Amid Government Shutdown

Small business finance company Reliant Funding is launching a new program that can link borrowers to faster, short-term capital while they wait for loan funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA).

In its announcement on Tuesday (Jan. 8), Reliant Funding announced the rollout of its SBAXpress program, a way for small business owners to receive up to $250,000 as a “bridge” to a full SBA loan. According to the company, the traditional process by which small business owners receive SBA funding is lengthy, taking up to 90 days. With the SBAXpress program, however, small businesses can receive short-term capital from Reliant Funding in as quickly as two business days while they wait for the full SBA loan.

The program also guides small business owners through the SBA Loan process, linking them to an SBA Preferred Lender.

“While a loan with the SBA is a beneficial and viable solution for many small business owners, Reliant recognizes the importance of access to fast working capital and assistance with this process,” said Reliant Funding Founder and CEO Adam Stettner in a statement. “With our SBAXpress program, we aim to ease the strain of waiting for funds by offering a financial bridge to accelerate the delivery of needed capital.”

Reliant Funding’s new service comes in the middle of a lengthy government shutdown that has closed the Small Business Administration and caused a drop in SBA loan approvals, according to data published by Biz2credit on Tuesday (Jan. 8).

The company’s Small Business Lending Index for December 2018 recorded a drop in SBA loan approvals for the month, though small business approval rates for big banks increased to 27 percent.

“At this point, it will take months for banks that process SBA loans to recover from this jam and restore the flow of capital to small businesses,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora in a statement. “With all the political quarreling in Washington, little has been reported about the impact on small businesses because SBA lending has stalled. The government shutdown really has begun to hurt small companies in search of capital.”